School District: Bellevue
School Location: Bellevue
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: September 2008

Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in June 2009
Level Two of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2010
Level Three of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in April 2011

Waste reduction and recycling

• The school increased its recycling rate from 43 percent to 61 percent.
• All classrooms, offices and cafeteria have recycling containers.
• The school held a “Green Week” that included posters and morning announcements to promote recycling and provide recycling facts.
• Tips about recycling were shared on the school’s daily news broadcast.
• In 2009-10 the school began to collect food scraps and other compostable materials in the student cafeteria and staff room. During the kindergarten and first grade lunches, parent volunteers assisted for the first few weeks of the new program.
• To prepare for rollout of the new program, teachers taught their classes about composting and explained what materials can be composted.
• Older students helped younger students learn to sort their recyclable materials, compostable materials and garbage at the end of lunch.
• The City of Bellevue sponsored a recycling assembly and partnered with the Green Schools Program to provide recycling assistance.
• To reduce paper use, the school did the following:
• Encouraged double-sided photocopies and the reuse of paper that has only been used on one side.
• Teachers e-mail newsletters to parents.
• The principal’s newsletter is sent electronically.
• Teachers swap books.
• The school held a waste-free lunch event to promote the use of reusable lunch containers.

Environmental education

• The school’s principal shared information about the Green Team’s efforts and successes in his weekly newsletter.
• Outside programs were invited to teach classroom workshops about conservation.
• To promote Earth Day and to support the Green Team’s efforts, many students and staff wore green.
• Tips and instructions about energy conservation and composting were shared on the school’s daily news broadcast.

Energy conservation

• Green Team members formed an energy conservation patrol to make sure lights, projectors and computers were turned off when not needed.
• Green Team members placed “lights out” stickers on all light switches in the school.
• The school held two “Green Weeks,” one in the fall and another in the spring. Each included posters and morning announcements to promote energy conservation and composting.

Water conservation

• The City of Bellevue made a poo-lution presentation to the school about surface water quality and pet waste.
• Second and third grade students participated in a workshop about worm bins.
• Second grade students participated in the healthy habitat workshop. 
• Fourth graders used the City of Bellevue’s water conservation curriculum materials.
• Three fourth grade classes participated in Nature Vision’s “healthy water systems” workshop.
• Fifth grade classes studied water in the “landforms” curriculum.
• The student green team used the water conservation resource tub from the City of Bellevue.
• Students made a presentation via the closed circuit morning broadcast about water conservation and water quality issues.
• Students created posters about water conservation and displayed them throughout the school.
• The school nurse created a video about hand washing that included information about turning off water while scrubbing hands.
• Students placed “turn water off” stickers by sinks throughout the school.
• Staff made morning announcements about water conservation to the entire school.
• Articles about water conservation and about the Green Schools Program were posted in the principal’s electronic newsletters.
• An article in the March 11, 2011 principal newsletter requested that students “send in a picture and description of how your family helps to conserve water at home. Every student who turns this in to their classroom teacher will receive a small prize from the Green Team. Additionally, some water conservation tips from students will be selected to be shared on the morning news!” One entry was a photo of a student holding up the timer he uses for his shower.

For more information about the school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:

Newport Heights Elementary School
425-456-5500